A new report by the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) shows that the University of Rochester is directly and indirectly responsible for supporting an estimated 50,300 jobs in the region. The report also finds that the new Institute for Data Science will create 460 jobs, and with 22,451 full-time-equivalent (FTE) employees, the University is the eighth largest private sector employer in New York State.

“As a source of scientific innovation, entrepreneurship, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment, research universities such as the University of Rochester play a critical role in the economic vitality and quality of life of the communities in which they reside,” said University of Rochester president Joel Seligman. “The contributions that the University makes to our region’s economy are due, in great measure, to the support we have received from philanthropy and local, state, and federal government. These investments have enabled the University to compete on a national level for the top students, faculty, and research grants.”

“Every region is made stronger by the presence of a catalytic economic engine,” according to the CGR report. “The University of Rochester is the economic engine for the Rochester Metropolitan Region.”

The University of Rochester, the Medical Center, and its affiliates employed a total of 25,773 people (22,451 FTEs) as of December 31, 2013, making it the eight largest private sector employer in the state and the largest employer based in upstate New York. The University has added 2,288 employees (2,111 FTEs) since the last CGR report in 2012.

The University’s affiliates include Highland Hospital, the Highlands at Brighton and Pittsford, Thompson Health, High Tech Rochester, Excell Partners, and the Visiting Nurse Service

Additionally, the CGR report finds that the University:

Paid more than $1.5 billion in wages;

Spent an average of $241 million per year on capital projects;

Purchased $196 million in goods and services in the Rochester Metropolitan Area;

Drew visitors that booked more than 24,700 hotel reservations.

This activity supported – both directly and indirectly – approximately 50,300 jobs, more than $2.8 billion in wages, and generated approximately $160 million in sales, personal income, and local property taxes.

The CGR report also projects the economic impact of the University’s new Institute for Data Science, which the CGR projects will create 460 construction and permanent jobs and generate an estimated $530 million in research funding over a ten year period.

The University will soon begin construction on a new 50,000-square-foot-building which will bear the Wegmans name in recognition of the Wegman Family Charitable Foundation’s recent $10 million gift. The IDS was also recently named by New York State as a Center for Excellence for Data Sciences. The building will serve as a hub for faculty and new data science research and education programs in the fields of medicine, science and engineering, the humanities, education, and business.

The demand for people with the skills and training provided by the Institute for Data Science is significant and growing. Quoting a survey by McKinsey & Company, the CGR report points out that in the next five years the U.S. will experience a shortage of 190,000 skilled data scientists and 1.5 million managers and analysts capable of harnessing the information generated by “big data.”